Rhian Cahill's Blog

Six Sentence Sunday – Spin The Bottle... Six Sentence Sunday – Spin The Bottle...

Snippet Saturday – Rain On Me

Interesting theme this week and I couldn’t find any scene with actually ‘rain’ but I figured snow comes close.

He retrieved her bag from the truck and headed for the button to shut the roller door and pressed it, but movement at the end of the driveway caught his eye and he quickly aborted the action. Peering into the night, Steve tried to focus but the lack of light outside and the abundance of it inside combined to make it impossible. He stepped to the edge of the garage for a better look when he heard someone behind him. Spinning on his heels, fists raised, he came face-to-face with Dale.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No worries, I’m a little jumpy.”

“That’s expected. What are you doing?”

Steve pointed down the driveway. “What is that?”

Dale leaned forward. “You got floodlights?”

“Yeah, let me get the switch.” Steve strode to the other side of his truck and flicked a couple of levers. Light illuminated the entire front yard.

“Shit!” Dale took off running.

“What the fuck?” Steve dropped Doc’s purse and raced after the sheriff.

The new layer of snow on the ground proved difficult to traverse and they slipped and slid their way to the end of the drive. They skidded to a halt as a woman wobbled and lost her footing in the slippery conditions, crumpling beside Dale’s car. At least Steve thought it was a female bundled up under all that snow gear.

He crouched down and gripped her shoulder. “Hey, are you all right?”

“C-c-cold.” Her voice was muffled by the beanie pulled down low on her forehead and the scarf wrapped around to cover what was left of her face, but neither could hide the chattering of her teeth.

Steve pushed the cold, wet material aside. “Recognize her?” he asked Dale.

His friend sucked in a breath as he squatted beside him. “Tatum. It’s Tatum Brant. William’s granddaughter. But she hasn’t been back in the mountain for years.”

“Let’s get her inside out of the weather.” Steve slid his arm around her as best he could with the bulky jacket she wore. He lifted and Dale steadied them as they got to their feet.

One on either side of her, they headed back to the house. She trembled against him and Steve could feel the damp and cold seeping from her clothes to his. It was awkward, she seemed to be wearing a wardrobe full of clothes beneath her thick coat. They reached the garage and crossed to the connecting door where Brogan and Quinn met them.

“Who the hell is that?” Quinn asked.

“Tatum Brant,” Dale answered.

“Where’d she come from?” Brogan asked.

“Bottom of the driveway, she was trying to make it to the house,” Steve said. “Can you go shut the garage door and turn off all the lights, Quinn?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, and Doc’s bag is on the ground near the light switches.”

“Got it.”

Her trembling had turned into bone-rattling shakes by the time Steve guided them into the living room where he and Dale lowered Tatum to the couch. He began removing her wet outerwear and quickly discovered the reason for her bulky mass. The women came in from the kitchen and immediately rushed over.

“Jesus. Is that…” Kat asked.

“Tatum Brant,” Steve said.

“Is she…?” Doc’s sister seemed to be having problems forming complete sentences.

“Pregnant?” Steve finished for her.

“I haven’t seen her in years. How’d she get here?”